The Sax Institute, an independent Australian health research organization, said Thursday it has launched 18 and Up, a long-term study meant to follow adults from age 18, including relatives of people already in its 45 and Up cohort^2,1.

The institute described 18 and Up as Australia's largest intergenerational health study and said it would track health, wellbeing and mental health across generations of families². The Guardian reported a recruitment goal of 100,000 people aged 18 to 45¹. The Guardian also reported $4.5 million in National Health and Medical Research Council funding, with recruitment beginning in November¹. The institute said recruitment opens from November 2026².

Sax Institute CEO Martin McNamara, named as chief investigator, said the work would follow people over time to inform health and care systems². Scientific director Justine Gatt said the study would combine survey answers with linked health records and would measure wellbeing as well as symptoms of mental illness². "Almost two in five young Australians aged 16 to 24 experienced a mental disorder in the past year," Gatt said, adding that long-term evidence on why remains limited².

The Guardian reported that McNamara also identified cancer questions, including early-onset cancers diagnosed before age 50, as part of the first surveys, and that participants would be asked about health, lifestyle and social circumstances, with consent for links to records such as cancer registries and Medicare¹. The institute's media release did not name cancer as a launch theme and said the study would primarily focus on mental health and wellbeing, with surveys and linked health records².

45 and Up, started about 20 years ago, has more than 267,000 participants aged 45 and older, the institute said, and has been used in research on cancer, chronic disease and ageing². The Guardian cited epidemiologist Emily Banks, a former Sax scientific director, on the value of large cohort studies; that account is not in the institute release¹.

Partners listed by Sax include Deakin University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, UNSW, Monash University, the Black Dog Institute and Lived Experience Australia². Recruitment is scheduled to open from November 2026^2,1. The study has not yet enrolled the new cohort or published 18 and Up results².

Not medical advice.